Chilling After Curfew (Open to anyone)

The beach was one of Taylor's favorite places. She just felt nice around water. It was probably because she felt safer there, where she could freeze the water and use it to defend herself. But aside from that, the water was, for her, the essence of life. Life wouldn't exactly thrive without water. Maybe the gods will go on, but the mortals couldn't live without it.

Taylor sat by the beach, watching the waves roll in the moonlight. She didn't care if it was past curfew; it wasn't as if she was doing anything bad. She clenched her fist, concentrating, and the shallow water in front of her turned solid. However, the thin ice she formed was easily broken by the wave. Taylor shrugged, and just began using her finger to draw figures on the slightly wet sand. That was when she noticed a person beside her. Taylor couldn't see him that well, but she could see enough to tell that he was a boy.

"Hey," Taylor greeted with a smile, but she wasn't sure if the boy could see. "Not afraid of breaking curfew, huh?"

"I've heard that the harpies patrol in the night," Taylor said cheerfully, as if this was nothing to worry about. "I'm Taylor. Nice to meet you." Taylor picked up a small rock and threw it across the waves. She heard it bounce two times before it disappeared into the water with a soft splash. "Couldn't sleep?" she asked Stephen.

"Once, I think," Taylor said, chuckling. Back then, the younger campers got scared of the creature while she was fighting the urge to laugh. "That was a hilarious day. I guess it's scary for little kids," she added as she recalled the memory.

Taylor hugged her knees close to her body. She felt wide awake. "Same reason. Y'know the feeling when you're about to sleep, then you start thinking about a lot of things? Yeah, you get the picture."

"I definitely know the feeling. Happens to me all the time, but I find distraction usually helps with the racing thoughts." Stephen was surprised with himself. Why had he told her that? He didn't usually share something so personal. He threw another stone and this time got it to skip once.

Taylor smiled, before she remembered that Stephen couldn't see it. Picking up a stone, she stood up and threw it. The stone bounced three times before sinking in the water. Taylor sighed. Stretching her arms above her, Taylor pressed on, "Distraction, huh? Like the sea?"

"Well the sound of the waves helps, but I usually come here to people watch. This place is normally the hang out spot after curfew" Stephen wondered why no one else was here, but he didn't mind. He liked talking with Taylor.

Taylor looked around. The place was empty. That was odd, wasn't it? Her head whipped around at the sound of a branch breaking. It was far, but Taylor heard it clearly due to the eerie silence. Her instincts took over and she resumed a battle stance with her weight equally supported by both of her feet. She looked over at Stephen, "I think there's a good reason why there aren't much people here."

Sure enough, a winged creature poked out from the trees. Her face was human, but her body was part bird. She spread out her wings and screeched, lifting herself a foot above the ground. The harpy started to move towards them.

"Congrats, Stephen, you have now seen a harpy," she told Stephen, chuckling. "So, do we run now?" she added, as if she was talking about the weather.

((OOC: I hope you don't mind if I spice things up a bit ^^; ))

(OOC: I don't mind at all, it makes it interesting) "Running sounds good" He was surprised at the sudden appearance of the harpy. It looked much more ferocious than he heard, but that wasn't why he wanted to run. He knew it would be heroic to fight it off, but he didn't like violence.

"Alright, let's go," Taylor said, launching into a run. She mentally cursed the sand for making it harder to run. She looked back to see the harpy gliding towards them, emitting screeches as she went. Gods, that bird is fast, she thought, gritting her teeth as she quickened her pace.

"Can we even outrun this thing?" Taylor asked Stephen in between breaths. She was half-tempted to turn back and draw her sword. "Is it against the rules to attack harpies?" she wondered aloud.

Stephen ran as fast as he could, but the Harpy was gaining on them. Wishing there was a better way and regretting that he didn't have his rarely used dagger, he decided there was no choice but to fight. "Screw the rules" he said and stopped running, turning to face the harpy in a defensive stance.

"That's more like it," Taylor said, smirking. She pulled her ring off and it immediately took the form of her sword. The sword was three feet long, the blade made of celestial bronze which seemed to glow in the night. A small sapphire was embedded on its silvery white hilt. Taylor clutched the sword with both hands, facing the harpy.

The harpy stopped a few feet in front of them. She began approaching cautiously, knowing that her foes were two demigods trained in combat. She screeched again, more of a battle cry this time, before lunging for the kill.

((OOC: You can control the harpy too.))

The harpy lunged at Stephen, who was easier prey since he was unarmed. Stephen backpedaled(difficult to do in the sand) to buy himself enough time to strike out with his left fist. His blow landed, momentarily dazing the harpy but Stephen wasted no time in throwing his right. He had no way to subdue or kill the harpy but he hoped to scare it off before Taylor decided to join the fight and kill it.

Taylor watched with alert eyes as Stephen fought the harpy. She was looking for an opening, but the two of them were moving too fast. Also, Taylor was torn between killing the harpy or letting it go. If they let her go, word might get out that they were breaking curfew, and she didn't want that to happen. So, that left only one thing.

Sorry, harpy, was Taylor's last thought before she lunged. She struck with her sword but the harpy was quick enough to dodge. Stephen's fist connected with the harpy's cheek, dazing her. Taylor saw her chance. She struck her sword, but stopped at the last second with her sword an inch from the harpy's stomach. Taylor paused. Was she really that ruthless?

It was the split-second that changed everything. The harpy, seeing reluctance, lashed out with her claws. Taylor brought her sword up instinctively to block. Her sword blocked the worst, but she felt something sting on her arm. Cursing in Greek, Taylor backed away a few steps. "I shouldn't have hesitated," she seethed to no one in particular as she assessed the wound. It didn't seem too deep, but it stung.

Stephen cursed. His reluctance to kill had shown. He was certain that was why Taylor hesitated and got hurt. He didn't know why he was reluctant to kill the harpy, sure it was a sentient being, but he knew that as a monster it would eventually be reborn. Taylor would not if she died. Determined not to let the harpy hurt Taylor again, Stephen threw himself at the harpy. They both fell into the sand and Stephen struggled to restrain it while it scratched and clawed at him, trying to give Taylor an opportunity to kill it like he should have allowed her to do in the first place. If he'd had his dagger, he may have killed the harpy himself.

Before she knew it, Taylor saw Stephen pinning the harpy down. Taylor knew what she had to do. She had to correct her mistake. Ignoring the stinging pain on her arm, held the sword in both hands and once she spotted an opening, brought it down at the harpy. She drove the sword right at the harpy's chest. The harpy gave a strangled cry before disintegrating into dust.

Breathing deeply, Taylor transformed the sword back into a ring. Her wound stopped bleeding too, which was a relief. She looked ruefully at Stephen, who now sported a few scratches from the harpy. She knew that if she had killed the harpy in the first place, they wouldn't have gotten hurt. Idiot, she told herself.

"Are you alright?" Taylor asked, her voice soft and unsure. She could feel the awkwardness in the air.

Stephen stood. "I'm fine" he said, brushing the sand off of him. "I'm sorry you got hurt. I just don't like death unless necessary. I should have let you kill it sooner. I think it has to do with the gift my mother gave me" He was hurt more emotionally than psychically, and his few cuts had already stopped bleeding, although they hurt from sand being in them. Ashamed at his weakness he couldn't even bring himself to look at Taylor even though the darkness would make her expression hard to see.

Why is he apologizing? Taylor thought confusedly. She believed that it was her fault for not stabbing the harpy in the first place. She was the one who hesitated, not Stephen. But anyway, what mattered was that they were okay now. She could faintly see Stephen avoiding her gaze. Taylor gulped. "I'm sorry too. I guess it was partly my fault for not killing the thing the first time," she said, looking at her feet. She wasn't used to apologizing, but she felt that this time it was needed.

Taylor sighed and gazed at the sea. "Never mind that though. It's already been done." She looked at Stephen, but she couldn't see him well. "Now, I'm more interested in this 'gift' you're talking about. Who's your mother, by the way?"

Stephen didn't like to talk about it, but he felt he owed it to her. " My mother is Macaria, Goddess of the blessed dead. She gave me the gift of easing the pain of people who are dying. I think it came with a sympathy for those about to die, and makes me reluctant to kill. I'd ask about your parent, but since the temperature dropped when you came around, I'm guessing Khione"

Taylor understood why he felt like he had to take the blame earlier. Like her, he was reluctant to kill the harpy at first. So that was why. She decided not to dwell on these thoughts and move on. The harpy was dead, and was most likely staying in the pits of Tartarus until it regenerates.

"I guess I'm pretty predictable," Taylor snickered. "You're right, I'm one of Khione's kids. I really like that gift of yours." Taylor paused. "Not many demigods are reluctant to kill," she said off-handedly.

Stephen barked a short laugh Maybe because they can't afford to be. It's not always just one's own life in his or hands" He shook his head. "I wish I could be like the rest of them. Anyway, like you said, it's done. What should we do now?"

Taylor clutched her head. "I don't think my brain wants to sleep yet. That little battle made me alert than ever. I think I'm going to relax here for a while," she muttered. Remembering her wound, Taylor began visualizing what would happen the next day when her siblings see her with a foot long slash on her arm. She laughed at the thought.

Turning to Stephen, she asked, "You going to hit the sack now?"

Stephen shook his head "I'm too wired. Besides, our yells, not to mention the harpy's will probably have people coming to investigate soon. It wouldn't be right of me to leave you to answer all the questions" He knew he might regret his decision. Though he had been at camp a year, he had managed to keep a low profile. If he stayed, and if people came to investigate, soon the whole camp would know him. Oh well.

(OOC: I'm going to bed, but I'll probably be back on tomorrow to continue)